Nigel Mackay

Thanks, everyone. Some interesting info there,

Not sure where else to ask.

I have seen comments that side-chaining can be a  problem/difficult with VST2. I have also seen comments that VST2.4   means that VST2 is just as good as VSR3.

Should I even think about it?

Use a loudness meter. Compare your readings with recorded stuff. Maybe you need compression, maybe you need less quiet/softer bits.

Here is a good free one Youlean Loudness Meter

1 hour ago, Kalle Rantaaho said:

Bouncing a MIDI+Audio output track combination you must select both the MIDI and audio output track.

Works, of course. Kinda obvious, but neither the few YouTube videos, nor the manual really state that. Probably expecting you to be using a simple instrument rack.

Have  Track 1 with MIDI data on it. Track icon is a MIDI plug.)

Output goes to a softsynth (SI Bass Guitar) on Track 2. (Icon is keyboard combined with MIDI plug.) I have TH3 in the FX. Setup for the sound I want. Output is to Master.

The data area of Track 2 is empty.

If I press Play, I hear the bass guitar playing.

If I Freeze Track 1, I get the processed audio in Track 2.

I select Track 2, Tracks, Bounce to Track(s)...

If I select Tracks as Source Category, Track 2 is available. If I select Buses as Source Category, Master is available. All Mix Enables are ticked.

Cakewalk mixes down a silent audio track, no matter what choices I make.

Or should I Freeze the MIDI track and then copy the created audio to a new track?

Thanks everyone.

@msmcleod

XPand2: Still looking at it.

GhostHack: Not bad at all.

SoundBetter: Freebie finished 1st Jan 😣, but is a bit synthetic if you are trying to emulate a pop song as accurately as you can.

EmVoiceOne:  Seems that if I stick to Oohs and Aahs might be ok.

8Dio are very expensive.

@Wibbles

Dimension Pro:  Will check out. Need to scour YouTube to find a demo of "Vocals", it having so much.

I'll have a look/listen, thanks.

Are there any VSTs that give you good background vocalists doing "ooh-ooh-wee"?

Everything I've found via Google/YouTube seems to be for church music and are not suitable for pop/rock music.

Something a bit better than the Choir Oohs and Choir Aahs in TTS-1.

@mark skinner It stays "clean." 😀

Then I tried the Overange 120 and by adjusting Drive and Gain I can get a sound which is much closer to the original. Will keep me going for a while, thanks.

@chucklebaby I do have an acoustic guitar. I suppose I could make a plan and mike it and plug it in to the PC. Also be able to get better strumming and the likes.

Will not get real rear pickup sound, but if I pick very hard and very close to the bridge it has to be better than the clean sound you get with all free VSTi guitars.

@dcumpian Just too expensive for having a bit of fun. OrangeTree is a week's cost-of-living for me. 😟

Because I am just using Cakewalk for fun and also because of a very unfavourable exchange rate, it is just not worth my while buying a guitar VSTi. Everything I have found so far only gives a front pickup sound. Plenty of amazing guitar VST1s for that.

But you can't use EQ to add the harmonics supplied by the rear pickup, or even a front pickup picked near the bridge because they are just not there.

At the moment doing "Oh Pretty Woman", and it is not easy to get the right sound for the guitar into and fills.

Any suggestions or guides?

When I installed this, Cakewalk classified it as an audio FX. So I cannot insert it as a front-end FX for a MIDI virtual instrument. This makes it not work as a bank/patch selector, which is especially useful for the Yamaha XG50.

What am I doing wrong?

A sort of bug.

No, Sonatina Orchestra is not multi-timbral. Neither is VSCO2 Orchestra. They both behave the same.

@User 905133 The SI Strings work that way, changing from Contrabass to Cellos to Violins, depending on the note. (But only one stereo output.) But both these VSTs are definitely only one instrument at a time.

@mettelus Using both as a VST in CbB.

I got to wondering if it is maybe a bug/misunderstanding between the VSTs and CbB.

EDIT: Experimented - now matter the patch choice, all audio output is on the 1st audio output, so I am assuming it is a bug.

If you insert something like the Sonitina Orchestra and select All Synth Audio Outputs: Stereo, it inserts 16 stereo "audio tracks" and 1 MIDI track. The VSTi is not multi-timbral, and even if it was you would then need more than 1 MIDI track.

You either enter MIDI notes on the MIDI track PRV or plug in a controller to play notes. But you only have 1 voice selected, what's with the 16 stereo outputs?

(You can of course select First Synth Audio Output and only get 1 stereo audio track.)

Thanks guys.

I can see what is available under Plugins -> Instruments. If i insert a new track I can use them.

But with an old MIDI file of mine from years back only MS GS Wavetable is available.  The files play, using the wavetable. Instead of the Setup icon to the left of the track name, I get an icon of a Philips DIN plug, as used before USB was invented. 😊

It is as if they are read-only, but they are not, I can do other edits.

Windows 10 64-bit.

EDIT: OK, I see if I drag a VST over it becomes "available", rather than being a track. Except it uses a channel number. How do I get around that. All the tutorials I have seen only seem to show starting from scratch, and only using a few channels.